25 Year State Championship Reunion

Great Family to come and support Makaley at her game and me at this 25 year celebration of the 1994 State Championship Basketball Team.  Mom, Dad, Dave, Taneil, and Haley were there too.

25 years - it's hard to wrap my head around that.

Elena, Me, Kathy, Lisa, Bridget, Kim, Kalli, Kami, Coach Colby and Garland

These socks were the same socks I wore that season.

An Amazing Young Woman

After just a year of being a young woman, Sariah completed her Young Womanhood Recognition.

She is so loved!  By so many!

BOYS

Somebody feed those kids!  

Dressed up for Markham's Decade Day.  

This was the dress rehearsal so they took the opportunity to use their firearms.

Cocoa Cafe

A first class production - Chiawana's Talent Show, Cocoa Cafe.  Talmage decided to audition and was given the chance to play Paul Cardall's "Praise to the Man" for an audience of about 500 people.

His fan club.  His Priest Quorum showed up and made a lot of noise for him too.  It was pretty neat.

Look what else we found while we were at Chiawana.

Second from the right, top row - the State Championship Team's Most Inspirational Player

Sadies 2019

Lauren Schultz had made a giant fortune cookie and put her name inside to ask Talmage to Sadies.

Talmage and Lauren 

The dance had a baseball theme.

 Lauren, Talmage, Molly, Coleson, Corissa, Ty, Hannah, ?, Ari, ?, Camden, and Zayne

Fun Group!  They had a progressive dinner and Talmage came home requesting some new recipes.  I'm so grateful he has so many good kids his age to spend time with.

Ice Crystals from Muck

When I saw this one morning when I went out to take care of the chickens, I was reminded that God can create beauty from dross.  This is such a nasty bucket of chicken water, but that morning it had beautiful crystal formations, God's handiwork, made from, but now sitting above the muck.  It reminded me of this thought of Elder Hartman Rector Jr., "[The] ability to turn everything into something good appears to be a godly characteristic.  Our Heavenly Father always seems able to do this.  Everything, no matter how dire, becomes a victory to the Lord" (Ensign Jan. 1973).

Sariah's first week Back to School

Sariah had missed the whole week prior to Christmas Break because she was home to take care of things while we were on the cruise.  When she got sick Monday after school I thought we would be in a pinch with her academics, but she got right on it and worked on her schoolwork with her headcold.

She ended up missing 2 of her first 3 basketball practices but she got into the swing of things fast.  Not everyone gets to have their Grandpa for a coach.

15-year-old Priest

Bryant is the first 15-year-old Priest in our family.  It was a pretty special ordination to have Grandpa and Grandma Wells there, and to have Bryant turn right around and assist in the ordination of a new 13 year-old Teacher.

Zarahemla

Yeah for some snow!

Rex loving the sledding.

One week in the sand, the next in the snow.

Testing out the frozen lake.

Truly postcard worthy beauty.

I even fell asleep for a nap!

Finishing up President Nelson's challenge to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year.

So glad we went to Zarahemla so the kids could play in the snow this year.  Cody took Talmage snowboarding for the first time.  He was a pretty sore boy but he had a good time.

Christmas 2018

James and I got to the Portland airport about 11pm on Dec. 23rd.  Somehow, he drove us safely home.  Grandma and Grandpa hadn't even made it to 351 yet by Christmas Eve.  Vard narrated our nativity.

Playing "LIFE" on Christmas morning.

Hyrum on his bike.

Talmage got a phone!  A true surprise!

The 2nd Amendment lovers.  Rex and Lyle getting some help from Uncle Vard.

Miracle Cruise

It was a miracle that we got onto the cruise and the cruise worked miracles for me.  After three months of trying to force feed myself, I felt hungry for the first time on the cruise.  I ate more easily and felt more at peace.  I went to bed before the parties were over (hardly even started actually) but was able to sleep.  I kept trying to put an explanation to it but finally concluded to just accept it as a miracle.

Mini golf on the top of the boat.

 

St. John's Trunk Bay (Absolutely Amazing!!)

Formal Night

St. Kitt's

Atlantic Ocean (on the left) and Caribbean Sea (on the right)

Somehow our kids survived without us - Thanks to a lot of help from Taryn and Haley.  While they were in Moses Lake they got in some caroling.